Library Place
(Newsletter)

Recent Donations

Among the recent donations to Special Collections is a five volume set of the complete works of Isaac Newton published in London by J. Nichols between 1779 and 1785. Newton kept his personal religious beliefs rather private and refused to take holy orders in the Church of England, something which was normally expected of Cambridge faculty in his day (he had to receive a special dispensation from King Charles II exempting holders of his chair from this requirement). Yet he was known to be a deeply religious person who was convinced that the order and beauty which he found in the universe could not have come about by chance. In addition to his well-known writings in the field of mathematics and natural science, he studied scripture, theology and church history, and this edition of his works contains the first complete printing of a lengthy letter he wrote on the textual history of I John 5:7, as well as his writings on ancient chronology and the prophetic writings found in the Bible, especially the books of Daniel and Revelation. The volumes were the gift of Barry H. Downing (PTS Class of 1963) who after completing his studies at Princeton Seminary went on to complete a doctorate on “The Eschatological Implications of the Understanding of Time and Space in the Thought of Isaac Newton” at the University of Edinburgh.

Another recent gift to the library’s Special Collections was a small collection of nine handwritten eighteenth century sermons from Katie Engstrom of Dallas, Texas. These include sermons preached by Colin Campbell, Rector of St. Mary’s Church, Burlington, New Jersey, and William Frazer, Rector of St. Michael’s Church, Trenton, New Jersey. These colonial and post-revolutionary ministers were among her ancestors, and the sermons were handed down through the family.

Bob Golon Retires

December 2013 saw the retirement of Bob Golon from his position as Manuscripts Librarian here in Special Collections. Bob first came to Princeton Seminary as a Project Archivist to work on the extensive Carl McIntire Manuscript Collection consisting of over 600 boxes of material from the files of this noted 20th century fundamentalist preacher and radio personality. Through diligent concentrated work Bob was able to inventory and arrange this massive collection, making its rich holdings available for researchers. He produced an extensive electronic finding aid, available online, as well as an 80 page illustrated print booklet introducing the collection, its history, and an extended glossary of specialized terms and abbreviations. Since becoming available through Bob’s hard work, the McIntire Collection has become one of the most used collections in the Special Collections area of the library. Among others, Markku Ruotsila, of the University of Helsinki in Finland, made several extended visits to Princeton to work in the collection and is preparing a full-length scholarly biography of McIntire based on his research which it is expected will be published this year. Bob also used his work on the McIntire Collection to interest the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference in holding one of its semi-annual sessions at Congress Hall in Cape May, an historic hotel on the South Jersey coast which was once the center of many of McIntire’s activities. Bob worked on the planning committee for the sessions, while Ken Henke, Curator of Special Collections, prepared a talk on McIntire and the collection for those attending the conference.

As Manuscripts Librarian, Bob participated in the ongoing daily work of Special Collections, arranging and describing a number of our collections, including recently the collection of materials related to the organization of Christians Associated for Relationships with Eastern Europe (CAREE). This organization originated from the work of Czech theologian and former Princeton Seminary faculty member Joseph Hromadka and others who sought to promote world peace during the Cold War years by deepening the understanding between Christians in Central and Eastern Europe and those in the United States. Charles West, former Stephen Colwell Professor of Christian Ethics at Princeton Seminary, was active with CAREE and its predecessor, the Christian Peace Conference, for many years, and his donation of papers related to this work was the basis for the collection. Additional papers in the possession of other officers of the organization were also solicited and contributed and together provide a fine overview of the organization’s work during the Cold War years, and in the years following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Researching and installing a new electronic system for monitoring the temperature and humidity in our climate-controlled book boxes was another of Bob’s many contributions, and he will be greatly missed.

Have you heard of Zotero (pronounced zoh-TAIR-oh)? It is an open-source tool used to organize research and generate in-text citations, footnotes, and bibliographies. A project of the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University, Zotero was a welcome addition to the field of reference management software as it capitalized on Web 2.0 technology.

You may find yourself asking, “Great, so how can this help me?” Well, after completing a paper, you no longer have to type out citations, remember which punctuation marks to use, track down incomplete references, or change repeat citations to Ibid (if following The Chicago Manual of Style). Zotero allows you to store citations from all of your papers, so it’s easy to go back—even years later—and find an article that you cited.

Digital Initiatives is a four-person team of librarian-technologists who focus on building the Seminary’s digital library, which is freely accessible online. The web site, http://diglib.ptsem.edu, describes the library’s extensive digital collections.

The Seminary’s flagship digital library resource, the Theological Commons, http://commons.ptsem.edu, constitutes a significant contribution to theological research. It is unique because it combines mass digitization with subject-based selection. Also, by partnering with Internet Archive, http://archive.org, a much larger digitization effort, the Theological Commons is able to include not only 29,000 volumes from Princeton Seminary’s book collections, but also 50,000 volumes from other research libraries.

Highlights include:

• Guides to the library’s rich manuscript collections

• Journals published by, or closely associated with the Seminary from 1825 to 2010

• The Princeton Lectures on Youth, Church, and Culture—providing access to original scholarship in youth ministry

• The Digital Library of Abraham Kuyper, containing the complete archive of more than 100,000 manuscript pages

• An archive of web sites containing content that is relevant to theological education

• Theological Commons, a fully searchable digital library of close to 79,000 public domain books and periodicals on theology and religion

Building on this important resource, Digital Initiatives is currently undertaking a major expansion of the Theological Commons, thanks to a $1.5M grant from the Henry Luce Foundation. This expansion will provide access to unique audio and visual resources. The cornerstone of this effort involves the digitization of the Seminary’s extensive media archive, which contains close to 9,000 audio recordings spanning the last 60 years, along with hundreds of more recent video recordings. These recordings capture public lectures, interviews, and sermons, given by prominent scholars, pastors, and church leaders. Most of the original tapes are at risk of disintegration, so digitizing this content not only makes it widely available, but also preserves it for future generations of researchers.

The Center for Barth Studies

The Center for Barth Studies (CBS), founded in 1997, exists to promote scholarship, conferences, and events related to the theology of Karl Barth. CBS includes a special Karl Barth Research Collection, which is housed in the library and is the largest Barth collection in North America. The goal of the Center is to eventually obtain a copy of every piece of literature written by or about Karl Barth. Each June, CBS facilitates the annual Karl Barth Conference, which places Barth’s theology in constructive and historical conversation with a variety of topics and figures. CBS also supports domestic and international visiting scholars by assisting them with research projects.

CBS is led by Dr. Bruce L. McCormack, director, along with an advisory board comprised of current and previous Princeton Seminary professors. The daily operations of the Center are managed by Kait Dugan, curator of the Barth collection and Nathan Maddox, assistant to the curator as well as two student workers, Tyler Davis and Michael Toy.

The annual 2014 Karl Barth Conference titled “Karl Barth, the Jews, and Judaism” will take place on June 15–18. Plenary speakers will include Victoria Barnett, Eberhard Busch, Ellen Charry, George Hunsinger, Mark Lindsay, David Novak, and Peter Ochs. The conference will also host the first-ever concurrent speaker sessions, which will include a variety of papers to be given by professors and graduate students throughout the world. The conference is free for PTS students. To learn more about the conference, please visit barth.ptsem.edu/. CBS exists to assist with practical and introductory tips for demonstrating how to navigate and understand Barth’s theology as well as to provide a wealth of primary and secondary resources for academic research projects. If you have any questions about Barth’s theology or need help locating Barth materials, stop by CBS during Seminary business hours or email barth.center@ptsem.edu.

Center for the Study of Scottish Philosophy

Throughout the year, the Center for the Study of Scottish Philosophy (CSSP) manages and edits the Journal of Scottish Philosophy (JSP), published by Edinburgh University Press. Now in its twelfth volume, the JSP has established a reputation for innovative scholarship, often from younger scholars, on all aspects, authors, and periods of Scottish philosophy, from the 17th to 20th centuries. In addition, the CSSP edits the Library of Scottish Philosophy, a book series published by Imprint Academic. The purpose of the series is to make expertly edited selections affordable and easily accessible to teachers and students. Recent volumes include selections from Thomas Reid, whose philosophical writings greatly influenced The College of New Jersey in the early years of the 19th century, and Scottish Philosophy in America, which documents much of that influence. The fifteenth volume in the series, The Scottish Philosophy of Rhetoric, was published on February 1, 2014.

In the spring of each year, the CSSP organizes a small conference, which attracts participants from all over the world. The March 2014 conference drew presenters from Singapore, Switzerland, Germany and Belgium, as well as Scotland and the United States. In addition, there have been three larger conferences organized in collaboration with other learned societies. The CSSP’s first conference in 2007 led to a long-term project—a two-volume, multiauthored history of Scottish philosophy. That project is nearing completion and the two volumes will be published by Oxford University Press in 2015. More information about CSSP can be found at http://www.ptsem.edu/library/cssp/.

Abraham Kuyper Center for Public Theology

Abraham Kuyper, a hugely influential theologian, church leader, and politician in 19th century Holland, gave the Stone Lectures at Princeton in 1898. Titled “Lectures on Calvinism,” they brought to the English speaking world Kuyper’s brilliant renewal of Calvin’s theological vision, and thereby created “Neo-Calvinism” as a powerful Christian voice. The Abraham Kuyper Center for Public Theology arose out of the centenary celebrations of those lectures organized at Princeton Seminary in 1998. Its work is now greatly assisted by an advisory board that includes Seminary faculty and external experts.

The Center’s most well-known event is the Abraham Kuyper Lecture and Prize, delivered by the recipient of the Kuyper Prize. This prize is awarded to someone who has excelled in his or her chosen sphere, and as a result won recognition for the continuing cultural relevance of the Reformed tradition. The Abraham Kuyper Lecture and Prize opens the annual conference on a theme related to the winner’s work.

The Kuyper Center Conference has steadily become a major event in the neo-Calvinist calendar and attracts participants from many parts of the world. Generous donations by Dr. Rimmer de Vries have made it possible to support participation by a new generation of scholars. Since 2010, revised and edited versions of a selection of the conference papers have appeared in the Kuyper Center Review.

Dr. Katharine Doob Sakenfeld

William Albright Eisenberger Professor Emerita of Old Testament

• Gets recommendations from faculty colleagues’ syllabi and the monthly thematic displays of the Mercer County Library System.

• Recently read The White Tiger, by Aravind Adiga; Things Fall Apart, No Longer at Ease, and Arrow of God, by Chinua Achebe; South from the Limpopo: Travels through South Africa, by Dervla Murphy; and The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, by Alexander McCall Smith.

• Appreciates the way depiction of life in these novels helps her to reflect on biblical ceremonies and practices.

Maggie Hasegawa is a digital library application developer who helps to design, develop, and test web applications for the library’s digital resources. She comes to us from Princeton University, where she was collection services supervisor and web developer for the Mendel Music Library. She also volunteered at Princeton Public Library and interned in our Special Collections area. Maggie has a B.A. in religion from Rutgers University and an M.L.S. from Clarion University. In her free time she enjoys reading, listening to music, yoga, and exploring nearby flea markets.

Kaitlyn Dugan is curator of the Seminary’s Barth Collection, maintaining and developing the collection and managing the Center for Barth Studies. She has a B.A. in philosophy and political science from Taylor University, an M.A. in theology from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and an M.Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary. She hopes to pursue doctoral studies in theology. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, listening to music, and watching “too many shows for her own good.” She has a fish named Luther and hopes to someday take a road trip to Montana.

Nathan Maddox is assistant to the curator of the Barth Collection. He provides resources and research guidance to students, faculty, and visiting scholars; edits book reviews; and launches social networking initiatives for the center. He has an M.Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary and a B.A. in religious studies from Samford University. He hopes to pursue a Ph.D. in theological studies. When he’s not in the stacks, Nathan enjoys hiking, watching emotionally draining movies, and indulging his southern Georgia palate with hot gravy ’n’ biscuits and sweet tea.

The Seminary recently received a very generous award of $1.5 million from the Henry Luce Foundation. The grant, one of the foundation’s 75th Anniversary Grants, will allow for the expansion of the Theological Commons as a digital, multimedia library of theological resources freely available to the world.

Princeton Seminary has taken a leading role in the creation of digital resources for shared knowledge and learning by creating the Theological Commons in 2012, a free public digital library of more than 78,000 books on theology and religion. The project has been designed from the ground up with students, pastors, and theologians in mind.

The Luce grant will allow the Seminary library to radically expand the content of the Theological Commons in two major ways: by digitizing and incorporating audio and visual materials (photographs, audio, video, and three-dimensional material objects), allowing resources in advanced digital media to become a key part of the study of theology; and through the digitization and incorporation of theological and religious material of use to or housed in theological institutions and communities in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

Princeton Seminary’s best-kept secret may be its Reigner Collection. The Charles G. Reigner Education Reading Room, as it was known when it was on the Tennent campus, was named for Baltimore publisher and philanthropist Charles G. Reigner. Under the direction of the late Professor D. Campbell Wyckoff and Professor Emerita Freda Gardner, the Reading Room served the needs of the School of Christian Education and today serves the entire Seminary community.

Late PTS professor Donald Butler organized the library of about 5,000 volumes from the old Tennent College of Christian Education into the beginnings of a specialized Christian Education library when that college was relocated from Philadelphia to the Seminary campus in 1943. This Christian Education library was originally located in Roberts Hall on the Tennent campus. With the first of Charles G. Reigner’s gifts in 1947, the library was officially named The Charles G. Reigner Reading Room, moved to a large space in Tennent Hall, and in 2004 to the former Speer Library. It is presently located on the second floor of the new library.

The mission of Reigner is to acquire a wide range of materials related to the understanding and practice of the educational ministry of the church and to promote their use at the Seminary and in local churches. As such, Reigner is integral to the Education and Formation area of the Practical Theology Department as it prepares men and women for the educational ministries of the church.

Reigner reaches out to the Seminary community as well as to neighboring churches. For both the experienced and the novice church educator, the Reigner Collection is an invaluable resource for support and provides an introduction to the newest materials available.

It is particularly valuable for those doing work in Christian education or youth ministry; it includes current resources for children’s, youth, and adult ministries, and materials for all age groups from birth to senior adults. Bible studies, worship aids, multicultural resources, mission helps, audio and visual aids, pictures, picture books, puppets—you name it, we have it! Vacation Bible curricula of all major denominations and publishers are available for browsing. CDs, CD-ROMs, DVDs, slide sets, posters, and games may be borrowed.

Special curriculum events, teaching and learning seminars, and workshops are planned periodically for the Seminary community and the community at large.

Information about Reigner’s holdings is available through the Seminary library’s online catalog. The Princeton Theological Seminary Library website is:library.ptsem.edu.

Christian Education Librarian, Sarita Ravinder, can assist in locating and recommending resources, in person, by email or phone: 609-497-7915.

It is with great thanksgiving that I would come into the presence of Almighty God for the preservation of my life through the terrific battle of yesterday.
In the morning I followed my regiment into the battlefield. In crossing the road a shell came very near striking me on the head. Not seeing either of the surgeons in the field I went in amidst the fire of the enemies artillery to inquire of the Colonel the locality of the hospital. When talking to the Colonel a shell came right near the head of the Colonel making for us both a narrow escape.
As I did not intend leaving the regiment without orders or without my Colonel’s knowing my whereabouts, I reported myself for duty in the battlefield. Colonel told me my place was in the hospital…I started for the hospital. The skirmishers were in front of our regiment which was about 100 yards in advance of the 1st line of battle in which the 3rd [regiment] was. In passing the second line of battle I made another escape from a shell. Proceeding a few steps further my attention was attracted by the cry, ‘Where is the doctor.’ I think he was hurt by the shell that came near hitting me. He was not wounded seriously. His little finger was severely cut & the gravel was driven into his face, so deep that he bled profusely. I helped him across the fields to the hospital. The tramp was not unaccompanied with dangers. The shells were ploughing up the ground about us. I got my patient safely to our division hospital, but there being others who were in worse condition than my man, I washed his wounds & tied them up till he could be attended to.
Here under this hill I spent a day which is so full of misery & suffering & personal danger that I would not if I could portray the bloody scene. The wounded men poured in upon us all day. I with other Chaplains of our division made myself useful as I could. I think I was the only Chaplain who attempted to perform a surgeon’s duty by washing and tying up those who were waiting for the most severe cases to be attended first…Thus I worked all day, not forgetting to improve the sad occasion, by referring to the bleeding men the physician of souls…
Battle Field near Fredericksburg
Sabbath 1 P.M. Dec. 14th 1862

The above excerpt is from one of the letters back home of John Jay Pomeroy (PTS Class of 1861), who volunteered to serve as a chaplain with a Pennsylvania regiment of the Union Army during the American Civil War. One of the most recent gifts to Special Collections was a box of his Civil War letters, together with the folding travel desk on which they were written and other memorabilia, including an autograph book with photos of his classmates from the Class of 1861. These items were the gift of his descendant, George R. Pomeroy (PTS Class of 1963), whose class is celebrating their fiftieth reunion this fall. Several other gifts have come our way recently as well.

Jane Minton, granddaughter of William Harris Templeton (PTS Class of 1850), has donated eighteenth century manuscript sermons of her ancestor James Grier (1750-1791), who underwent a religious conversion under the preaching of George Whitefield, studied theology with John Witherspoon at Princeton, and served as pastor of the Deep Run Presbyterian Church near Doylestown, PA, and of his younger brother, Nathaniel Grier (1760-1814), pastor of the Church in the Forks of the Brandywine in Chester County, PA, who in the days before the existence of Princeton Seminary trained many young men for the ministry. There is also a very interesting set of mid-nineteenth century sermons written in a form of phonetic shorthand and dating to the time William Harris Templeton was serving as a missionary among the Native Americans of the Muscogee Creek Nation in Oklahoma.

Marie Melrose, daughter of Paul Cunningham Melrose (PTS Class of 1915), has donated a set of materials about the Presbyterian mission on Hainan Island in the South China Sea. Before going as a missionary to Hainan, the father of Paul Melrose had been a seminary classmate of J. Ross Stevenson, who would later become a president of PTS; and Paul Melrose, who was born and grew up on Hainan, became a seminary classmate of later PTS president John A. Mackay. The collection includes a transcript of the memoirs of Margaret Rae Melrose, the mother of Paul Melrose, who served at the Hainan Mission from 1890 until 1940, as well as a collection of photographs from the history of the mission dating from 1890 through the 1950s.

Dayle Gillespie Rounds, associate dean for continuing education at PTS, has given us ten boxes of materials from the files of her father, former PTS president, Thomas W. Gillespie. Dr. Gillespie was the fifth president of Princeton Theological Seminary, serving from 1983 until 2004. Under his administration the Seminary saw the beginning of several major academic programs, including the Program for Asian American Theology and Ministry, the Institute for Youth Ministry, the Center for Barth Studies, the Abraham Kuyper Center for Public Theology, and the Joe R. Engle Institute of Preaching. He also placed an emphasis on increasing diversity within the Seminary community, including an increase in the number of women and of African American and Latino/a students and scholars, and the invitation for the Hispanic Theological Initiative to locate on the Princeton Seminary campus. Several new chairs were endowed, including chairs in theology and science, homiletics, and theology and the arts; and the John A. Mackay Chair in World Christianity was initiated.

The new materials added to the Thomas W. Gillespie Collection include a collection of his addresses and articles; a large collection of his sermons, including those given in the parish as well as those preached in Miller Chapel; farewell addresses to the graduating classes; well-organized notebooks of sermon illustrations; datebooks and planning calendars that document his many activities and involvements; course notes for courses he took while a student at Princeton Seminary, as well as for graduate courses he took elsewhere, including those at Claremont Graduate School, where he earned his doctorate in New Testament; course notes for the courses in New Testament that he taught at Princeton Seminary; and selected correspondence relating to his appointment at PTS and to his retirement.

We have also received the papers of Abigail Rian Evans, PTS professor of practical theology emerita. Much of her work over the years has focused in the field of bioethics and health ministries, and the papers are rich in materials covering topics such as the church and mental illness, addiction, holistic health, organ transplants, reproductive choice, euthanasia, AIDS, death and dying, working with persons with disabilities, parish nursing, and older adult ministry. There are also records of the National Capital Presbytery Health Ministries (which she founded), sermons and liturgies (including liturgies for services of healing), course outlines and bibliographies, and a collection of materials on women in pastoral ministry.

Finally, we have also received from John H. Sinclair (PTS Class of 1947), a long-time Presbyterian missionary to Latin America and former Secretary for Latin America of the Commission on Ecumenical Mission and Relations, a large box of material gathered in preparation for the writing of his Spanish-language biography of former PTS president John A. Mackay.

Library Place, the newsletter of the Princeton Theological Seminary Library, debuts with this issue. Its purpose is to provide a point of contact between the library and those who turn to it for service and support.

Library Place will feature articles about library collections and services, users, events, exhibits, projects, digital initiatives, and outreach. We’ll showcase the people and programs that advance the mission and value of the library, whether staff or users. We’ll explore trends and technologies relevant to education, ministry, and scholarship. Our goal is to connect the library with your experience as one of its users. And we’d love to hear your comments!

Princeton Seminary marked its bicentennial year and entry into its third century with this new library. Through refreshed physical as well as virtual presence, we aim to renew Andrew Carnegie’s image of a library as “a never failing spring” nourishing life and thought. As one of the nation’s premier theological centers, we want to continue to play a constructive role in education and scholarship, intervening in the causes of ignorance, increasing access to knowledge, investing in collections, building relationships, cultivating the use of innovative technologies, and pursuing collaborative solutions.

Library Place will be available in print as well.

Donald M. VorpJames Lenox Librarian

Fall 2013

New Library Building Welcomes Scholars, Pastors, and the Community - Issue 1 (Fall 2013)
Library Staff

On May 13, 2013, the much anticipated new library at Princeton Theological Seminary opened its doors, and students, faculty, and visitors are enjoying the openness of study and social spaces in the new building.

The largest open public space, the South Gallery on the second floor has desks and soft seating options, and three small group meeting rooms. It affords a spectacular view across Mercer Street to the Seminary’s main campus, as well as window seating, perfect for reading and reflection.

The Korean Mission Room, dedicated to the longstanding relationship between the Seminary and Christians in Korea, is also available for study and reading. It features a portion of the Moffett Collection on Christianity in Korea. Samuel A. Moffett was one of the pioneer Christian missionaries to Korea. His son and daughter-in-law, Samuel H. and Eileen Moffett, spent most of their lives ministering in Korea before Sam came to PTS to teach missions and ecumenics.

The Reference Reading Room on the lower level, below an overlooking balcony, expansive windows, and refurbished light fixtures from Speer Library, is a popular study space. The light-filled Iain R. Torrance Atrium will be used for a variety of events, including lectures, receptions, concerts, and art exhibitions. On the first floor, the café is already a popular informal gathering spot for the PTS community, with windows looking out on Mercer Street, vending machines (including a self-service coffee machine), and café-style seating (including benches crafted from the trees lost during construction). The concourse on this floor offers ample soft and table seating, and new display cases for library exhibits.

The new building provides collaborative spaces to gather and share ideas and research, including small group meeting rooms and two multipurpose rooms. The Theron Assembly Room, named for Daniel J. Theron, a former Seminary professor and generous library donor, can be reserved for meetings, continuing education events, and public lectures.

Technology supporting research, teaching, and learning is evident throughout the building. Wall-mounted digital signage features library and campus events and interactive library maps. iPads provide access to the library’s catalog, and the Princeton Theological Seminary mobile app (iOS and Android) allows quick browsing of library resources on the go. Four seminar rooms, one on each floor at the west end of the atrium, feature document scanners, Smart Boards, audio and video (A/V) recording systems, and other tools. The Media Lab, equipped with a variety of PC and Mac workstations, regular and color printing, scanning, specialized software, and A/V equipment available for checkout to PTS students and faculty, is temporarily located on the second floor.

Other offices temporarily located in the new building include Special Collections (home to the Seminary’s archives and rare book holdings) and Digital Initiatives (the team behind the Theological Commons and the library’s other rich digital collections).

In an eco-friendly tribute to the past, some materials have been repurposed from Speer for use in the new library. In addition to the benches in the café and “disk style” lighting fixtures now in the Reference Reading Room, a number of tables throughout the new building have marble insets, recycled wall tiles from Speer Library.